


Gonnna Be Warm This Winter

by Vitaldelirium



Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Magic, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29412669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vitaldelirium/pseuds/Vitaldelirium
Summary: For the prompt: "You're teaching my younger sibling how to ice skate and I've never been so in love with you." I altered the line a little but the gist is the same.
Relationships: Ruby Baptiste/Christina Braithwhite
Comments: 14
Kudos: 53





	Gonnna Be Warm This Winter

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" by Connie Francis but you know, [the Kylie Minogue version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw_l_9MAHX0) because I actually like Kylie. 
> 
> And, because, brevity is not my forte, this was really hard to keep to 1,500 words, but I did it! Yay! 
> 
> Also, note the modern AU tag because it would probably be filled with anachronisms otherwise and no magic here, because magic is hard. I didn't have time to... backstory, so just suspend your disbelief for a moment and picture this: Ruby and Christina are dating; Christina and Leti do not like each other. That's it. That's all you've got to know delving into this and now onto the fic.

It starts the way most things with Leti typically do. First, a slammed door (Ruby thought she locked it), then, Leti yelling Ruby's name (so frantically it rips through the tranquillity of the evening-in Ruby and Christina were happily wallowing in) and then, of course, the subsequent tormented sigh from Christina (curled so comfortably into Ruby's side that Ruby feels the exhalation rattle her own ribs). 

Ruby de-tangles herself from her girlfriend, slides a hand to her thigh and squeezes — both a nonverbal apology and a warning to  _ play nice _ . 

Christina sighs her acknowledgement though Ruby’s certain it's a response to the apology— playing nice seemingly never an option between Christina and Leti. 

"Upstairs," Ruby calls down to her younger sister, steeling herself for whatever this is this time. "In the study." 

Leti wastes no time with greetings, ascending the stairs quickly, flinging the study door open and immediately announcing:

"I need your help!" 

"Of course you do," Christina mutters behind the massive book she's reading; Ruby squeezes once more for good measure. 

"Oh, Satan's here," Leti grumbles, glaring at what Ruby can only assume is, from Leti's angle, just the few strands of blonde hair Leti can see over the book. 

"She lives here," Ruby points out, a point she doesn't have to make to Leti who uses every minor spat to express her disappointment with Ruby _moving_ _in with that crazy white girl_. It's a discussion Ruby really doesn't want to have right now so she moves quickly to Leti's favorite subject — herself. "What do you need, Leti?" 

"Tic is taking me ice skating next weekend." 

"Great."

"Yeah, but..." Leti pauses. "I didn't exactly tell him I don't know how to skate." 

"How shocking," Christina intervenes, closing her book, giving up her attempt to seem disinterested. "Leti's extending herself to impress a man," she mocks, striding over to where she keeps her decanter. 

Honestly, Ruby has a similar inclination to drink when it comes to  _ Leti problems _ , but she has the decency not to act on it in Leti's presence, something Christina has no such qualms about as she knocks back a finger of her million year old whiskey and pours herself another. 

"How can I help, Leti?" Ruby presses on, deciding, as usual, to ignore their snarky baiting. 

"Well, I don't want to make a fool of myself or look like some damsel in distress, so I was thinking that maybe you could teach me?"

"To skate?" Ruby asks, a little surprised that Leti isn't asking for a few hundred dollars for some expensive skates— which would be more typical of Leti's usual asks  _ and _ actually doable on Ruby's part. 

"During which part of our childhood,  _ mine, specifically _ ," Ruby stresses that part because they both know the majority of Ruby's childhood was spent keeping Leti out of trouble, "do you think I learned how to skate?" 

"I just thought maybe,” Leti actually looks contrite for once. "Well, I don't know. You do a lot of…" she glares at Christina, " _ strange _ things," she concludes. 

Ruby grits her teeth, ignores that provocation too. 

"Can't help you with this one, sis; sorry," Ruby tells her, about to suggest the obvious — telling Tic the damn truth, because if anything, he's the damsel in distress in their relationship, flinging himself into messes Leti or Christina often bail him out of. 

She doesn't breach that can of worms because Christina intervenes first. 

"I'll do it," she says and she might be on her fourth refill in the short time Ruby took her eyes off of her if she's insinuating what Ruby thinks she is. "Teach you," she clarifies, which is exactly what Ruby thought and absolutely didn’t think. 

"What?" Both Ruby and Leti ask. 

"Well, in between the satanic rituals you think my childhood consisted of, I did partake in other rich, white activities — ice skating, one of them. So I am offering to teach you. Unless, of course, you have a plan B."

Leti looks between Christina and Ruby and back, seeking guidance, and Ruby shrugs, perpetually Switzerland between them. 

"What do you want in exchange?" Leti asks defensively. 

"Is it so hard to believe that I just want you and my dear cousin to have a fun date night?"

"It is actually," Leti affirms. "Very hard to believe."

“Well, it’s up to you if you accept my help but," Christina downs another finger of whiskey, "if you do, I'll see you tomorrow at the rink downtown at 6 AM."

She brushes a quick kiss to Ruby's cheek before she makes her exit, leaving Ruby and Leti in stunned silence. 

It's Leti who breaks first, eyes wide.

"Did she say  _ 6 AM _ ?" 

* * *

It's cold outside, snow just starting to gather on the sidewalks and Ruby walking into a building almost just as cold honestly feels like torment, though it somehow seems fitting for Tic to consider something this torturous romantic. 

She spots Christina in the rink with Leti, hesitantly, but without help, skating circles in the middle of the ice. 

Christina notices her immediately, telling Leti something that Ruby can't hear before speed skating over to the waist-high plastic fence — somehow both graceful (like she's definitely done this many times before) and awkward (too lanky to be otherwise). She stops abruptly with just millimeters between their faces, the thin fence between them. 

"Show-off," Ruby grouses, denying the kiss Christina’s clearly angling for. "How's it going?" she pries instead. 

"Surprisingly well," Christina confirms, untroubled by the denial as she turns to watch Leti manage a shaky spin. 

"I can't believe you got the owner to lend you the keys to this place," Ruby muses, glancing around — she hadn't known this place even existed. 

"You can't believe I used money to bend a situation to my will?" Christina jokes, her attention suddenly drawn by the sound of scraping ice; Leti, it seems, quickly careening. “Steady,” Christina calls. “Bend your knees like before,” she advises, shifting imperceptibly, ready to no doubt skate over there and catch her, should she continue falling. 

There’s no need because Leti heeds the advice and balances, throwing a distracted “got it,” over her shoulder. 

"Good job," Christina calls out, relaxing, and even, dare Ruby think it, smiling proudly. 

Delighted by revelation, Ruby can't help herself, throws her arms around Christina from behind and almost topples her —  _ damn skates _ . Christina rights herself quickly, tilting her head to display her confusion. 

“This is nice,” is all Ruby offers, pressing a kiss to Christina’s cheek — and then, because positive reinforcement is definitely necessary here and because the words feel like they are clawing from her chest: "You're teaching my sister how to skate and I couldn't be more in love with you right now."

Christina turns in her arms, the frosty pink of her cheeks warming. 

"I could be teaching you how to skate too," she offers, her voice soft, affected. 

"Tempting," Ruby laughs in a way that makes certain she doesn't find it tempting at all. "Too bad I don't have skates."

"Luckily, I bought a pair for you." 

"You-"

"Knew you would stop by to make sure I hadn't murdered your little sister? Yes, I did." Christina grins, so damn proud of herself and honestly, no better than Tic with her reckless ideas of adventure and romance. 

"How do you know I'm not making sure Leti doesn't murder you?" Ruby reasons. 

Christina scoffs. 

"I'm offended at the implication that you think she could do much more than annoy me to death."

Ruby laughs — perpetual Switzerland, though, she’s wondering if she no longer has to be. 

"Whatever you say, dear," she teases, kissing the chill from Christina’s lips, then her cheek, her jaw… 

"You're trying to distract me," Christina deduces, voice breathy. 

"Is it working?" 

"That depends on how far you're willing to go with your sister here."

Ruby groans, suddenly remembering why they’re here in the first place. 

"Fine, where are these skates?" 

Christina nods to a bench left of her, where Ruby hadn’t noticed a wrapped box, complete with a bow and everything. She turns to retrieve it but Christina catches her wrist before she can — manages to get skin even with her long sleeves. 

Christina scrutinizes her carefully, eyes icy— not like the chemical ice of the rink beneath her skates, but wild and glacial, the color Ruby's only ever seen ice on TV. 

She wonders if that kinda ice would make her feel like she's melting too. 

"I promise I won't let you fall," Christina exhales, ardent. 

Ruby nods.

“I know,” she says, logical though her breath feels robbed and her brain unhelpfully supplies a  _ too late  _ — aware, cognizant, that she's fallen already, perhaps the moment Christina torpedoed into her life with her reverent assurances — and now, in the middle of February, in an ice rink Christina probably paid thousands just to open early, Ruby realizes her words earlier were no exaggeration; she really couldn't be more in love with Christina if she tried. 


End file.
